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Kazuri Beads - Ceramic, Hand Made, Hand Painted from Kenya
Most people who saw the film, Out of Africa, were taken by the
spectacular scenes around Karen
von Blixen's coffee farm. This area is now a suburb neighborhood of Kenya's capital
city, Nairobi, and has officially been named Karen.
Even though it is only about 30 minutes from the
center of Nairobi the area has maintained its rural loveliness
at the base of the Ngong Hills.
Located on what was once a part of Karen von Blixen's
plantation there is now a small workshop where ceramic jewelry and
beads are made by Kenyan women. Originally started as a non-profit industry, using the funds to support the local community, this women's cooperative exercise has turned in to a world-wide recognized for-profit bead distributor and jewelry manufacturer.
If you have the opportunity to visit Kenya, we encourage you to visit the Kazuri factory and after you shop for fabulous beads and jewelry have a cup of tea at their outdoor cafe. (At a minimum you should visit a Kazuri store - there are a number of them located throughout Nairobi.) Kazuri is a wonderful example of an African non-governmental, non-profit organization turned successful business enterprise.
Making the beads is painstaking work. Many of the
beads and necklace components are tiny and they are all hand- made. Each bead has to be shaped carefully, polished, fired, painted and fired again. The result is KAZURI, the Swahili word for "small and beautiful"
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